I believe that, apart from some obvious punctuation, this is not grammatically incorrect. Never say, “die”.
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Mr ListerSep 25 '12 at 11:16

3

@Ishmaeel Please identify the grammatical problem you see in the phrase.
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MετάEdSep 25 '12 at 11:27

4

@MrLister I've never seen the phrase punctuated any differently from how the OP presented it (that is, none at all).
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Andrew Leach♦Sep 25 '12 at 12:07

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@Ishmaeel ehm, if he was still alive, saying "I'm dead" technically wouldn't be correct. And if he was dead, he wouldn't be able to say it.
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Mr ListerSep 25 '12 at 12:26

1

With the acceptability of reduced that-clauses, report structures are permitted without the that: Never say [that] you're beaten. Never admit you're defeated. This is productive: Never wish a vagabond "Merry Christmas." Never wish a vagabond (a) merry Christmas. Never say hello to a stranger carrying a sub-machine gun. However, the frozen expression Never say die , as the fine answers say, predates this trend - possibly even started it. The closest productive usage may be Never say Never Again .
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Edwin AshworthSep 25 '12 at 13:29

According to Concise Oxford English Dictionary, one says “never say die … to encourage someone not to give up hope”.

It functions literally as a reply to a statement such as “we are all going to die”, expressing hopelessness in the face of a deadly situation.

It is also used idiomatically as a reply to similar statements of hopelessness not containing the word die, or when the speaker anticipates such a statement and wants to forestall it, or when the speaker is struggling with feelings of hopelessness and wants to banish them.

The earliest published example I found is from “The-Man-of-War’s-Man, Chapter XVI” (evidently part of a novel serialization) printed in Blackwood’s Magazine, Volume 18 (1825):

Cheer up then, and never say die, for the devil a morsel of good it will do.

To uncover more examples, you can use the Google Ngram Viewer: search for[ never say die,Never say die ]; click through the various date ranges beneath the chart to view the source texts using Google Book Search.

Judging from that one page, the text is full of archaic forms and informal speech. Some lines contain a verse-like quality. So this one seems to count as a vote for "deliberate misuse with artistic license in younger days," yes?
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IshmaeelSep 25 '12 at 13:20

@Ishmaeel Not sure what you are asking. Maybe you can answer your own question by looking at more examples. Try the Google Ngram Viewer: search for [ Never say die, never say die ] and set your date brackets for 1800 to 1900.
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MετάEdSep 25 '12 at 15:45

I agree that it is a strange construction. So I thought maybe searching for why you might use the phrase "say die" (instead of "never say die") might shed some light on the origin of the phrase. The earliest publication I could find, in which the phrase "say die" was included, is a play called, "The Faithful Shepherd." The play was published in 1590, written in Italian by Giovanni Battista Guarini. The English translation wasn't published until 1647. In a 1736 edition of a book entitled The faithful shepherd:
A pastoral tragi-comedy, written in Italian by the celebrated Signor Baptista Guarini, there are these lines (pages 102 and 103):

"Let those fair amiable Eyes release

My Life, now bitter, which once made it sweet;

And those bright Stars, which my Love's Torches li't,

Light too my Funeral Tapers, and fore-run,

As once my rising, now my setting Sun.

But thou more hard than 'ere thou wert before,

Feel'st yet no Spark of Pity, but art more

Deaf to my Pray'rs. Must I then talk alone?

Wretch that I am, discourse I to a Stone!

Say die, at least, if nothing else thou' It say,

And thou shalt see me die..."

Within the next century, for whatever reason, the phrase "Never say die." becomes quite common. (I'm not saying it's a result of the play, by any means, in case anyone mistakenly thinks I'm implying that.) MetaEd mentions one citation in his answer, but there are many citations from the 1800s in which the phrase is used, including a flowery poem attributed to J.F. Waller, reprinted in Oddfellows' magazine, Vol. 13, 1881, page 91:

I don't think the usage in the play has anything to do with this phrase. There, it is simply used as an imperative: "Say die" = "ask me to die (which I will)". But the poem certainly looks like it could boost an ordinary phrase into idiomhood. So one vote for "irregular use with poetic license?" Thanks.
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IshmaeelSep 25 '12 at 14:21